24 May 2000

Multimap partnership with Cybertrack offers a world first in personal protection

Cybertrak is the world's most technologically advanced personal tracking system and will revolutionise how companies approach staff safety and time management.

Developed by Orbis Monitoring Services Limited, Cybertrak is based upon a new generation of mobile phones supported by professional 24-hour Call Centre assistance. It is marketed by Orbis in partnership with Vodafone and Finnish mobile phone innovator Benefon.

Cybertrak will provide an unprecedented level of lone worker and personal protection and will combat growing concerns about the vulnerability of people who either work on their own or are alone for long periods. It is a timely response to plans by the Government to get tough on companies who fail to offer adequate lone worker protection.

The service provides a total solution to personal safety and resource management that is easy to use - it requires only a Benefon mobile phone and access to the internet.

"This is a world first in terms of harnessing the latest mobile phone and internet technology with 24-hour call centre professional support to deliver a complete personal safety and resource management package." said John Lancaster, Business Development Director of Orbis Monitoring.

At the heart of the service is the Orbis Call Centre in Cheshire where a team of highly-qualified professional operators are available to provide support and assistance 24 hours a day. At their disposal is Orbis's bespoke alarm management software, linked to unprecedented house-level detailed maps of the UK and street level of Europe and many other parts of the world.

Customers can obtain access to the service via the Cybertrak interactive Internet site. Through its partnership with leading online mapping company, Multimap.com, the internet site allows customers to pinpoint the position of any field operative equipped with the Benefon Track mobile phone anywhere in the UK or Europe.

"It is vital that the maps used for this service are both detailed and accurate so that lone workers can be located quickly" said Sean Phelan, CEO and founder of Multimap.com. "We are therefore delighted that Multimap.com's mapping services have been selected for the Cybertrak tracking system."

Each Benefon Track phone is equipped with an SOS button. On activation, the phone's revolutionary global positioning system (GPS) receiver obtains the user's exact location which is transmitted, together with the person's unique identity, direct to the Orbis Monitoring response centre in Cheshire. During an alarm situation, the phone's microphone is automatically activated, enabling Orbis to record and confirm an emergency situation is in progress. There is also the facility to interrogate the phone to obtain the user's latest position.

At the Call Centre, the sender's position is displayed on an incredibly detailed map of the UK and pinpointed to a specific building in a particular street. Highly-trained operators then decide on the most appropriate response depending on the nature of the situation. The operators will monitor the situation until the difficulty is resolved.

Mr Dave Thomas, Orbis's Operations Director, said: "Our Call Centre is operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and our operators are fully trained in incident management, no matter what the situation."

Orbis can also use Cybertrak technology to offer a similar service for a vehicle, or fleet of vehicles, and enable real-time tracking to any street or road in the UK. Customers are offered the same level of Call Centre management of emergency situations and can also access the Orbis website to plan their vehicle management and respond to special customer requirements.

The new service is designed to offer a complete 'one-stop shop' solution and includes:

Either a Cybertrak phone or vehicle tracking device
Vodafone monthly network access charge
24 hour Call Centre monitoring
Unlimited Internet Access
Full product maintenance and repair facility
Life, personal accident, theft and accidental damage insurance
Installation - if required.
The Cybertrak service is available for a fixed monthly lease charge under four separate all-inclusive tariffs, depending on the level of service required. These range from using the phone purely for lone worker protection or using its full capability, including the ability to transmit an automatic position periodically.

Combined with its many other essential features, the Cybertrak phone provides companies with the assurance that their employees are never alone.

About Multimap.com

Multimap.com is the UK's most popular mapping website, offering a range of free, useful services to assist with everyday life. Key features include street-level maps of Great Britain, overview maps of the world, door-to-door Travel Directions, aerial photographs, links with the map of the London Underground network, and local information. Multimap.com's WAP site: wap.multimap.com gives WAP phone users easy access to its text-based travel directions and store finder services, with accompanying maps for users of larger screen WAP phones.

Multimap.com attracts over 2.5 million unique users every month and is one of the top 10 most visited websites in the UK. Multimap.com is also the most significant provider of online mapping services to businesses and offers a range of fully customisable maps and directions for web pages, WAP sites, PDAs and Interactive TV.